


Then Okay

by axolotlnerd-campcamp (axolotlNerd)



Series: Pheonix [1]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, From a request on my tumblr, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Max/vid shippers do not interact please, Past Abuse, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 04:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18241964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axolotlNerd/pseuds/axolotlnerd-campcamp
Summary: As the autumn begins to grow colder, making way for the wayward winter, David finds himself wondering what’s happening in his camper’s lives. But he never expected to find one of them — especially not like this.





	Then Okay

David was, and always had been, a person of routine. He had his rituals: small ones, like smiling at himself in the mirror after brushing his teeth; and bigger ones, like going out to eat every other Thursday at The Diner. It was only ever called The Diner — though the official name was Mandy’s Roadside Diner, they only added those first two words in the 80’s, and the place had been open since the 50’s.

It was certainly a charming place, when you ignored the mostly dirty truckstop they built to connect to it in the early 70’s. The word “Diner” was written in neon letters above the place, and inside you could find relics of a bygone age. The jukebox had never been replaced, and you could put in a quarter and if you were lucky, it might let you choose a song to play. The walls were lined with things like pictures and license plates and stickers that said things like  _‘an oldie, but a goodie’_ next to an illustrated jukebox.

It was quaint, and maybe a bit kitschy, but it was rarely busy and the food was cheap and not completely awful and greasy. It was an oldie, but a goodie.

David had already paid his bill and finished eating, but he liked to relax in the cold faux-leather seats and look out the large window that faced the parking lot. The fall had settled in well that year, and the small window of foliage was beginning to close and make way for the rains, letting droplets of water run down the glass in thin trails.

He missed the summer. He  _always_  missed the summer when it wasn’t summer, and when it was summer he dreaded the rest of the year creeping up on him. It was his favorite ritual of all, running the camp and meeting the campers, always strange and unique but never the same as last year’s. It made him wonder what happened to last year’s kids, made him wonder if they were okay.

It was always the worst during the fall, when the pain of losing the summer was still fresh. He’d think back on the year’s campers and hope that they’d found something good. Hope that they found something better than what they had before camp had started, even if it was just something small.

Maybe Nerris would finally find her party, and Harrison would find out how to bring things back. Maybe Nikki would find her wolf pack. Neil would find new inspiration for his mad-scientist-esque schemes.

Maybe Max would find some peace.

It tore him up to think of the kid. The last day of camp was always awful for him, reminding him that summer only lasted for 8 weeks and then it was back to routine, but this year felt even worse. As he collected his things, he couldn’t help but relive the moment.

 _“You’re not coming?”_  Max had asked as David loaded all the kids onto the bus.

 _“Well, I have to wrap things up here.”_ He’d replied. He didn’t want to stay, he wanted to come and make sure everyone got home safely, but Gwen had already left and work began in the morning the next day, meaning he had to clean up alone.

A look of betrayal crossed Max’s face for a moment, but then he whipped around, scowling as usual.  _“Whatever. Bye.”_

The look on his face had stuck with David, bothering him so much he dare say it haunted him.

As he stepped outside, the bell of the diner rang, and the faint music of the place was replaced with the pitter-patter of rain. It’d become a downpour soon, and the sun had set a long while ago, setting a strange ambiance to the forest that surrounded the diner.

He opened his umbrella, glowing red in the orange light of the lonely street lamp down the hill, and when he turned, he heard something out of the ordinary.

The skittering of footsteps sounded out, but by the time he thought to look for anyone, they had gone. Though he couldn’t see anyone, he could still feel someone’s gaze boring into him like a dull knife.

He took a few cautious steps forward. Places just off the side of the highway were always a bit sketchy, but it wasn’t anything like the city, and surely if someone was going to mug him, they would have by now.

He anxiously peered around the corner of the building, holding his umbrella in a way similar to how he might have held a baseball bat. “Hello?” He called, looking around.

For a moment, it was too dark for him to see anything, but as someone began to step forward he could see their eyes reflected in the orange streetlight. He stepped back, nervous for a moment at the greenish gray cat-like eyes that met his own. But as they stepped closer to the light, hesitant and wary, their image began to break through the haze of night.

“David?” Max sounded so small, so uncharacteristically scared that all David could do was stare in shock.

 _“Max?!”_ He suddenly gasped, anxiety of a new kind gripping him.

But something about it — perhaps the tone of his voice, or the pose he held, still poised to attack if needing — put the kid more on edge than he had been. With the sound of a small faltering of footsteps before the rhythmic tapping of running, Max had bolted down the sidewalk.

“Wait!” David called, scared and running to follow him. When Max had made it just under the orange streetlight, he skidded to a stop and whipped around.

The new light revealed more of his image, bitter and grim and burning into David’s mind. He was motley of different shades, lacking the blue hoodie he’d held onto all summer. Bruises were scattered all over his body, surrounding small cuts in rings and wrapping around his thin wrists in the shape of a hand much bigger than his own. He looked like he’d gotten into a fight and lost, curling his hands into a fist and revealing his bruised knuckles. He was battered and torn but still ready to defend himself.

David stared for a long moment, not knowing how to react. He took a small step forward, but that caused Max to take two steps back, one of his ankles nearly failing him and making him raise his fists higher. He was like an injured animal, knowing how vulnerable he was and trying to act like he was bigger than that.

David stopped, and moved slowly as he knelt on the ground, dropping his umbrella and pushing it to the side. As he spoke, he put his hands up as if to show that he held no weapon, would not curl his fingers into a fist.

“It’s okay. No one’s going to hurt you.”

Max stood completely still for a moment, trying to see if he really meant that. His stance loosened, and he took a shaky step forward, his ankle almost giving out on him again before he ran over, instantly burying himself in David’s chest as he held his breath. David wrapped his arms around the kid as if on instinct, a hand moving to stroke his hair. He’d been thoroughly soaked, as if he’d been standing in the rain for hours, and suddenly it occurred to him that maybe he had and it made his heart hurt to think of it.

Max shivered as he let out a small sob, and David could feel it rip through himself too. What awful person would do this to someone, to a  _kid_  no less… Even the thought hurt him.

“It’s okay,” He murmured, pushing the thought that demanded he ask who did this to the side. “I’m right here, okay? You’re gonna be okay.” He reassured, and the words sent another weak sob running through Max, silent but strong. He gripped David’s shirt tighter, shuddering again.

He didn’t complain when David picked him up, holding him to his chest as he opened his car door and sat down inside to shelter the kid from the rain. Though he left the door open, he still turned to blast the heat, feeling the cold rain having wrapped itself around Max and hoping to chase it off.

“What happened?” He sighed, mostly just wondering aloud.

But Max hiccuped, trying to get out an explanation. “P… Parents,” he spat out the word like it was a curse, and David felt a vicious bolt of anger run through him at the word. Max stuttered, trying to say more but losing himself in the memory.

“Shh,” David hushed him. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” He knew damn well that it wasn’t, but he swore to himself he was going to make it better. It was going to be okay eventually, and he would make sure of that. “We’ll fix this. You’ll be okay.”

Max sniffled, trying to stop crying. He felt guilty and embarrassed and like he’d been thrown down a flight of stairs, and more than anything he wanted to rip the heart out of his chest for making him look like such a child. He was more than this, he was sure — more than stammering distressed nonsense and the rain-soaked t-shirt that hung over him too loosely.

But right now, it hurt too much to be much more than that. So he let himself hiccup his sobs away, letting himself believe David for just a moment as the pain became a thick cotton in his mind, beginning to fall asleep with tears still in his eyes.

David sat there for a long time, feeling the kid go slack in his arms as the dry heat poured from the old car’s vents.

He didn’t know what he was going to do, or how to fix this, but as he stood up and brought Max to the passenger’s seat and buckled him in, he knew he had to do  _something._  He looked at the kid’s bruises, and Max tensed as he did, and David was quiet as he spoke to no one in particular.

“I’ll make this better. I promise.”

Max was too tired to pour any energy into believing he was wrong. Too tired, too embarrassed, too sore. “Okay,” he muttered, sleep threading through his voice.

The rumble of the car’s engine sparking to life, humming as they made their way through the storm, lulled Max to sleep slowly. He would believe David, let himself believe him just this once, and just agree.

If David said he was going to be okay, then okay.

He could deal with that.


End file.
